Examining Sample Assignment 3: Article for a Public Audience
Examining Sample Assignment 3: Article for a Public Audience
Let’s do one from a more advanced class. This is the final assignment in my science writing course, a junior-level advanced writing course. As I have done with the previous two, I’m leaving out some of the procedural details and in this case, I’m also leaving out information about the visuals and citations, neither of which are important for our purposes.
| Assignment | Write a public piece on a topic of your choosing. |
| Audience | The “science-public” of a popular magazine or newspaper like Time or Scientific American or the New York Times |
| Sources | Scientific research reports (at least two); an interview (at least one); any other sources you would like to use, but all sources must be reputable |
| Length | 1800-2100 words |
During the last part of the term (and occasionally before this point), we will be looking at articles written for public audiences. These articles differ from the research reports and literature reviews written for expert audiences in many ways, which we will talk about in class.
Topic and Purpose
Your topic for this article will be grounded in the annotated bibliography you have already done. That is, you should already be familiar with the most recent scientific research necessary for this piece by the time you write your public article. You are not required to write about everything that you covered in the last project, however. You may choose any aspect of this research to focus on, even if it doesn’t completely overlap with your literature review.
You may choose to write either an informative piece or an argumentative piece. We will talk in class about how to use your choice to guide your approach to this assignment.
Audience
Audience makes all the difference in this assignment. Instead of assuming an audience already familiar with the concepts, background, methodology, significance, and the like, authors of scientific articles written for the public must explain their work for readers who are not steeped in the jargon and who are not automatically engaged with the material. Thus, you will need to generate their interest and stimulate their understanding.
For this assignment, you will choose a magazine that publishes scientific articles (e.g., Time, Scientific American, Discover). You will need to find at least one model article from the publication you have chosen; we will use this article for audience analysis and discussion of visuals appropriate for your article.
Sources and Citations
I am requiring a minimum of three sources for this piece: two research reports and one interview. You are already familiar with research reports, and we will talk about interviews in this unit. Your interview should be with someone knowledgeable about the research topic you are exploring; this may include researchers (including professors), local authorities, activists, government officials, or anyone else with the knowledge you need. Keep in mind that not all interview